\n<\/p>\n
Ahead of the 2026 World Cup, England are presented with a bit of a problem. Harry Kane will start as the Three Lions\u2019 main striker, but who should the Bayern Munich man\u2019s chief support be?<\/strong><\/p>\n Phil Foden was fielded as a false nine against Japan \u2013 but after a 1-0 defeat, in which Foden contributed very little, England have been sent back to the drawing board.<\/p>\n Kane\u2019s injury record isn\u2019t spotless \u2013 should he be ruled out, England will need to call upon one of these five players. But who is best suited to Thomas Tuchel\u2019s style of play?<\/p>\n This has been a lacklustre season by Ollie Watkins\u2019 standards. He has scored just nine goals in 30 Premier League games this season \u2013 these aren\u2019t terrible numbers by any means, but the Aston Villa ace is capable of much more. <\/p>\n A hard-working forward with excellent movement and electric pace, Watkins is a threat to anyone when operating at the peak of his powers.<\/p>\n Notably, he scored the winning goal against The Netherlands in the semi-finals of Euro 2024 \u2013 as things stand, he has scored six international goals across 20 caps. <\/p>\n Anthony Gordon is not a natural striker. When he plays up top, there are certain things that England won\u2019t be able to do \u2013 for example, Gordon does not have the aerial ability to consistently win headers, nor does he have the physical presence to effectively hold the ball up.<\/p>\n The Newcastle man is, however, very quick \u2013 therefore, he is very dangerous when the ball is played into space behind the opposition defence. <\/p>\n A natural winger, Gordon is a very situational striker. Against teams who look to sit in and defend, his impact will be minimal \u2013 on the other hand, he can be very effective against teams looking to field a high line. <\/p>\n At the start of the season, Danny Welbeck was nowhere near England contention \u2013 now, the Brighton star might be England\u2019s best backup forward. <\/p>\n On his day, Welbeck is a complete striker. Fast, powerful and possessing excellent movement, he is enjoying something of an indian summer towards the end of his playing career.<\/p>\n Out of all the players on this list, none of them have scored as many Premier League goals as Welbeck has this season \u2013 he has 12 in 30 games thus far.<\/p>\n Dominic Solanke simply hasn\u2019t gotten going since he joined Tottenham Hotspur in 2024. His goal scoring record has been modest at best \u2013 not only this, he has also struggled with injuries.<\/p>\n Nevertheless, Solanke has all the tools to be a top striker. Physically domineering and often composed in front of goal, the former Bournemouth man has yet to put it all together for the Lilywhites.<\/p>\n He should definitely be in contention for the England squad, but is he good enough to be Kane\u2019s main understudy? He has work to do at both club and international level to convince his detractors. <\/p>\n Ivan Toney was not included in Tuchel\u2019s latest England squad. Despite this, given his goalscoring record, there is a serious argument to be made for his involvement in the team.<\/p>\n Toney has scored 25 goals in 25 league games this season \u2013 sadly, he plays in the Saudi Pro League, which is likely the main reason for his disinclusion.<\/p>\n The level of quality in the Saudi Pro League is debatable at best \u2013 were Toney producing these numbers in one of Europe\u2019s top five divisions, we have no doubt that he would be part of the current England squad. <\/p>\n \n <\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Ahead of the 2026 World Cup, England are presented with a bit of a problem.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1401,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arsenal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1400"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1400\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disport.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Ollie Watkins<\/h2>\n
Anthony Gordon<\/h2>\n
Danny Welbeck<\/h2>\n
Dominic Solanke<\/h2>\n
Ivan Toney<\/h2>\n